Falsity, Hypocrisy
by kouhas
Summary: "Analysis. Observation. Examination. It's all for the sake of study!" was what you told yourself. No matter how convinced everyone else was, there's one person you'd never fool: you. [reader/various; rating may change]
1. coffee shop: grasping at straws

prologue.

_a coffee shop_ / in this new age, exciting characters can be found loitering in and around these! it's your mission, young trainer, to try and catch them all.

* * *

You stretched your legs underneath your desk, and curled your toes in your boots.

Looking around, you grimly nodded in tolerance.

It was all expected. You were in a coffee shop, and around you couples and singles buzzed with conversation, and the sweet drinks sloshed in their cups seconds before being downed. Your skin crawled with indignity. It was so _like_ an aspiring writer like yourself to be tapping away on your PC, frappé on the table and ear buds secure to an iPod.

The people, alien in a way, scribbled in notebooks and read from books with really dreamy, meaningful covers. _Poetry at a coffee shop. Classic hipster_, you snorted. You only chose this… venue… and these clothes – beanie, dorky glasses, oversized sweater – for science.

_But it's okay that I'm here, because it's only for observation!_ Let the sad excuses you told yourself ensue.

One fine specimen walked through the door. Navy hair, well covered despite humid spring rains, both most obvious was a scar that looked like it exploded on half his face, on his neck, and down his collar to places unknown… That's good. You typed that down.

He was perfect — different! — inspiration wise. You continued to stare, looking at how his lips moved to form letters, and observing how he stood both with a purpose and with certain smallness.

You ached to know what he was thinking, besides the caramel macchiato he ordered.

His jade eyes flickered to you. In an instant, he turned back to his order.

You realized the man, unlike you, _probably _had a something to actually do besides gaze at strangers! Fumbling with your phone, you meekly snapped a shot of him before he could leave. Perhaps this would come of use for later, like character design. Since the photo was candid, the man's face was caught in mid sip. You giggled, and made to put your phone away, when a pale hand wrapped around yours, or rather around your phone.

"T-thief!" you started, and swiftly whipped around in your beanbag chair. "THI…ef…"

"What are you doing?"

You sucked at confrontation with even grade school teachers, but a stranger who suddenly looked as if they had some authority?! Oh, you were frozen.

"I-I…"

He took your phone, most likely looking at the photo you thought you had so stealthily taken. With a beep, you knew he had deleted it.

He then placed your phone on the table with a sigh, before giving a tired smile that made him seem nicer. "Don't take pictures without asking at least. Okay?"

You nodded, feeling leagues dumber than you already were.

The man stood over you for a painful four point two seconds.

"My ride's not here, so I'll sit." Really, it was said half to no one in particular, and half to you. And in that half to to you, it was probably as a notice too, because this mysterious man sat straight across from you. This wasn't a small table, but you felt too close to him anyway.

How you tried not to stare. Casual as talking about the weather, you let your eyes drift upward to this man's face. The scar was in a way, a beautiful disaster.

… You typed that down. Then realized it sounded very cheesy. No… backspace, backspace…

In the pregnant silence, he spoke, "You can look at it." You obliged immediately. Your fingers went rampantly typing away, vainly trying to capture the jaggedness of his scar, and wondering how you could put such imagery into words.

You blushed. "M-may I take a picture?"

The man threw you a cocked smile, and your insides fluttered. (to your embarrassment) "As long as you don't do anything too weird with it."

You snapped the shot and inwardly groaned. _Oh_, did he have to wink so cutely?

"Thanks…?" You realized this guy hadn't told you his name yet.

"I'm Hakuryuu," he offered. Finally, Scarface had a name.

"Hakuryuu!"

Hakuryuu muttered something and stood, walking past you.

"You took forever, Judal."

A playful voice snickered. "Sorry, I have things and other people to do." This Hakuryuu guy must've shoved the guy are something, because he yelped an "Ouch!"

You turned your head.

Oh wow, this Judal boy was _hot_. Eyes like rubies, hair dark as night, and you personally didn't fancy the whole guyliner and guyshadow trend but you were really digging it on this guy. You turned away, and bit your lip. Both eye candy and a fit muse, gone!

…

What you were doing… you didn't know. You briskly walked outside, after having thrown your glasses away onto the table. The humidity instantly clung to your skin.

After searching aimlessly, you saw the duo, headed to a sleek black car, some model you didn't know or care about.

"Wait!" you called. Yes, time for daily embarrassment.

Both Hakuryuu and Judal spun around, the former with a blank face and the later squinting at you.

You shuffled to them.

"… C-could you spare some time—"

"To donate? No thanks, I'm broke," Judal said, with a fake empathetic pout before unlocking his ride.

"For a picture," you deadpanned.

While Hakuryuu climbed in, Judal lit up. "Why of course, anything for the fans!" This guy knew how to wink too.

You shyly took his image, in awe at the clarity of his red, red eyes. Judal had thrown a cute v-sign too. You thanked him graciously, and he began to shamelessly flirt with you. You felt like a slice of prime beef, buttered with compliments. Flustered, you said, "Aw, stop it! You and Hakuryuu are a really cute couple too."

Judal's face abruptly became blank. Did you say something wrong!?… Were they not a couple!?

Then after unnerving silence he combusted in obnoxious laughter, which didn't stop until after he climbed into his car, said something to Hakuryuu in between his hilarity, who turned red as a beet and began to snap, and drove out the lot. You stood in your spot, sheepish.

After pondering over what you'd make for dinner you jolted in realization.

_Shit! _Your stuff!

* * *

**… I hope my writing doesn't seem to wander or go on a lot. I felt this was longer than it needed to be... way too long to be an introduction =u=lll**

**aah… very lame chapter title/phrase **

**this fic will not be as ditzy as it seems. there _will _be some psychosomatic themes! AS ALWAYS ^U^**

**an ongoing story… that i'll have to /update/ omg… i'm still testing this fic, & everything's been vaguely blueprinted. if i ever complete this… it'll take some time… i really do wanna finish this however, because it has a lot of promise. ;u; hurray for a challenge! i'm working on writing with more one-liners and brevity, for a more modern and casual tone to go with the story.**

**review and feedback please, as always~ **

**+question: 'you' have enough personality to actually be an oc, not just a reader insert bc of my laziness at character development! yay! should i make this an oc fic, or have it remain reader insert?**

**p.s. disclaimer! the probably offensive jabs at hipsterism were just satire **


	2. lunch table: first impressions

chapter one.

_lunch table_ / some people say the juiciest stuff when eating. pretty good for dialogue and people-watching, no?

_unedited._

* * *

"_Oh, I'm fine."_

…

"… _No, really! Everything's going really great!"_

…

"_I'm finally settled. The people are nice. School's a total blast. My grades are in tip-top shape."_

…

"_Everything's perfect!"_

* * *

Ah, lunch. Where the masses exchanged dull conversation in a means to know each other better, where they poked fun at the less fortunate, and where they all divided into their respective cliques. It was sort of an unsaid rule that once a group claimed a spot, no one could. Each spot in the courtyard was a different ward of territory. It'd be in your best interest not to tread where you weren't invited.

Knowing this, you tried to flee from the scene.

A yell startled you.

Hearing your name being called, you turned on your heel curiously, not fond of the attention the chatting student body turned to you. You came to see Alibaba, smiling brightly as his surprisingly toned arm waved high in the air. You gently returned the expression, now beaming yourself. Seeing him stumble with his own two feet, you nearly blushed.

In an instant your bad mood from this morning was dispersed.

"Saluja-kun…" you greeted. Alibaba ran a hand through golden tresses.

"Hey, you should call me Alibaba from now on!" he said, sheepish. "Anyway, you should sit with us today!" He gestured behind him, and your eyes followed.

Your eyes met a bunch of familiar faces. In the center was a handsome guy with raven hair, a weary looking pale kid with freckles, two redheads (a girl that looked younger than you and a muscled man) a playful man with dark skin and contrasting white hair, a big bosomed woman who argued with the dark skinned one, a mischievous blonde girl who couldn't have looked older than twelve years old, a brown-haired one who was much more reserved than his pals, and a burly man who inhumanly towered over the rest. Not to mention… a dragon?!

Were these Alibaba's friends!? They looked quite rowdy, gaining judging side eyes from the rest of the collegiate populace… You laughed nervously as some of the men gouged themselves on a stack of food, which teetered dangerously side to side.

"I'll introduce you!" Alibaba invited. You looked into his shining amber eyes and looked away. He was like a human sun—much to dazzling to look at directly. His voice was genuine and sincere. Something stirred in you… you realized it was the desire to accept his offer. But common sense ruled against it… surely nothing could come out of joining his buddies… nothing that didn't spell disaster.

Plus, you had some writing prompts to mull over. The shady fig tree over yonder would do nicely.

"Well?" Alibaba's warm voice shook you out of your thoughts.

"I… uh," you started. But it was too late to deny, because Alibaba's calloused hand was now clasped around your tiny-in-comparison wrist, dragging you to chaos.

The disorder grew louder and more frantic to your ears with every step.

"Get your dumb arm out my side!" was screeched from the right.

The dark-skinned man, who had marvelous green eyes you noted, spat back, "Get your side out of my arm!"

"What sort of sense!?" the big bosomed woman shrilly cried.

The dragon guy (whose appearance was still unexplained) shook his head in what you thought was shame. "You all are foolish."

A phone sounded beneath the noise. "Oh, hello?" A smooth-operator chuckle from the purple-haired one. You now saw him as both sensual and dangerous. "Oh, Diana, I was expecting your call…" An annoyed sigh. You saw Freckles pinch his nose.

"Your feet must be strong. Like a bag of rocks," was poorly explained in a sturdy, blank voice.

"Like this, Masrur-san?" though this had come from the gentle looking redheaded girl, afterwards she stomped on the ground, forming a crater.

The hair of your body stood on end from the tremors.

The whole table was in an uproar. You awkwardly stood in front of them, not a single one seeming to notice your presence. Despite the ruckus, Alibaba cheerily announced, "Everyone, this is the girl I was telling you about!" A hush fell on them.

…

"So this is your girlfriend!" the dark-skinned one inquired. He wiggled his eyebrows at you and nudged Alibaba. "She's a looker!" You remained apathetic. Alibaba flushed red and sputtered all types of excuses, but none were comprehensible. You stood awkwardly, not knowing what to do with your hands.

What should you do with your hands?!

The gargantuan man with stubble on his chin and a salmon pink scar slashing through his face whistled. "Our Alibaba's a man now!"

The childish blonde scurried to your side. "I wanna see her!"

Looking down at her, then what was seemingly the hulk who whistled at you, your curiosity peaked. "Are these truly college students?" you whispered.

"Y-yeah…" Alibaba sighed.

The big breasted woman – oh how you hated not knowing any of these people's names! – walked up to you kindly. "I'm Yamraiha." You nodded, sending a pleasant grin back.

After telling her your name you disclaimed, "I'm not his girlfriend."

"T-that's right!" Alibaba confirmed. "She's not so stop making such a big deal of it!" he seethed.

But the hulk and the flirty green-eyed man laughed, hooted and cheered. "Alibaba's got a girlfriend! Alibaba's got a girlfriend!" They hopped out of Alibaba's swipes and his reach. You giggled. It was funny to see the lot of them, all too alive in front of your eyes.

Alibaba finally managed to introduce them all to you between the flares of their arguing.

You decided to separate yourself from the group, standing next to Drakon, as he too was distancing himself. You decided him and Spartos, the reserved brunette, would get along as fellow wallflowers.

"… So…" you coughed. Drakon's eye, small and embedded into the plethora of green and scales that was his face. "Are you…" Careful, you needed to be delicate with your wording. "…human?" Well there went that idea.

Drakon let out a deep throaty chuckle. You wondered whether fire would come out. "This is only a costume. I have permission from the school."

He did?! And, was it really a costume!? It looked so real.

You glanced back at him, and his costume… hmm… _was it really_?

"I see…"

You directed your attention the group again. They were each so _weird_, vibrant in their own way. They were amusing to watch, and you found yourself yearning to be part of the action. You yearned to be as comfortable and casual as they all were. Through all the shouts and the arguments, there was an easiness that told you that despite the sharp-tongued insults, they were just joking.

You had never experienced something like that. Where you came from, when insults were said they were daggers. Each of them hurt and the insulters meant every poisonous word.

You knew this wasn't some fleeting college friendship. These people would be together for life. You felt the corners of your mouth pick up into a goofy grin. The smile widened until you cheeks hurt, and you knew there was pink dusted on the apples of your cheeks.

A pair of hands covered your eyes. You gasped, unable to turn because of the body behind you.

Cooed into your ear was a spine-chilling, "Guess who?"

* * *

**wow i was stuck for a long while on this chapter! i had no idea where anything was going =u=; my fault lies not in idea but execution!**

**and oh whats that speck o dirt in the beginning hmm—ItS PlOT!****PLOT! [excessive exclamation marks]**

**sorry this chapter was sort of useless and junk… i needed to introduce the characters… expect the next chapter to be sorta-ish like this one… u v u;; trying to make it not so boring. by chapter three the story should be on its way!**

**review comment feedback PLeaSE JUST SOMETHING**

**guest replies: **

_**nanabanana**_** – omg thank you thank you! your review means a lot to me ;u; your feedback was extremely appreciated and i felt so flowery inside! FLOWERY [rips off shirt to reveal your name tattooed on my chest] perhaps i'll dabble back into luna ^u^ +reader insert it shall b!**


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